A new year & a new adventure

Hi all and happy new year!

Well I have been very good overnight with being nice and stable and getting my oxygen dependency levels down and today I got given a very nice surprise. I got to get out of my incubator and get held by mummy AND daddy. Two separate cuddles. How exciting is that! It is the first time since I was born that mummy and daddy have held me. They weren't expecting to be able to because the nurses had told them early on that they couldn't expect to have a hold or a cuddle until I was off the ventilator so it was a fantastic surprise for them. The nurse said that when babies have been on a ventilator for so long and were stable they sometimes relax the rules a little and let parents have a hold. Mummy cried when she was told she was so happy.

Of course it took a little bit of maneuvering to get me all ready to be held ( which is why they don't normally do it). The nurses were cracking jokes on how many nurses it takes to lift a 1 kilo baby. Mummy went first and sat in the chair with a pillow on her lap. Then they disconnected my tubes, put me on the pillow and then reconnected my tubes. They also wrapped me up in a nice warm blanket. I was awake for the whole thing because it was so exciting. Then I lay there looking at mummy and daddy and they sat there looking back and talking to me. Their voices are so much clearer than when they talk to me in the incubator. I also reached out and was holding Daddy's finger. The nurse thought that I might get a little cold so she put my santa hat on me and it kept falling over my eyes so daddy kept pulling it up. Thanks Dad.

Of course it was one of the only days that mummy and daddy didn't bring the camera to take photos, but luckily my neo-nates baby friend Greer and her parents (Anna and Ben) had their camera so they took photos for us. We will post some when we get them.

When Mummy had to get up and go and express (milk) then Daddy got to swap places with Mummy so that he could have a hold too. I was pretty tired by then and could barely keep my eyes open so I went off to sleep in Daddy's arms. It was so comfy. And I could hear Daddy talking and humming to me.

Eventually I had to go back in my incubator. Afterwards I heard Daddy ask when the next time they will get a hold will be, and the nurse said that if all goes well they can have another hold tomorrow!! So that is something to look forward too.

I sneaked a peak at Mummy and Daddy as they were leaving and they were both looking so happy. I'm glad that it didn't just make my day!

Love from Mitchell